Press Release: Peace-woman to be prosecuted under Anti-Terrorism legislation

Mon, 2008-08-18 00:00

Juliet McBride of Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp (AWPC), will appear before Newbury Magistrates Court on 20 and 21 August 2008 charged with trespass on a nuclear licensed site under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA).

Mrs McBride was sitting quietly on a fence holding a rainbow flag with the word "peace" on it, when she was arrested on 10 March 2007. Her action was to draw attention to the new developments at AWE Aldermaston in the week of the parliamentary vote which approved the development of a new generation of nuclear submarines from which to launch Trident missiles. Work on the building of facilities to test, design and build new warheads for the Trident system had, in advance of the vote, already commenced at Aldermaston.

The government brought in s.128 of SOCPA 2005 in order to criminalise trespass on sites designated by the Secretary of State. However, this is the first case in the country to be brought under s.128 as amended by s.12 of the Terrorism Act 2006 which criminalises trespass on a nuclear licensed site. According to the MoD in 2006, the introduction of this "offence will therefore protect the general public's democratic right to protest by ensuring that any such protests are conducted in a safe and controlled environment."

In her defence, Mrs McBride (who despite over 20 years of protest has no previous convictions at Aldermaston) will assert that the prosecution of a peaceful protester under this legislation is disproportionate, and violates the right to freedom of expression.

"Successive governments have shown they are determined to stifle democratic participation in decision-making about Britain's nuclear weapons", said Mrs McBride. " This prosecution is yet another strand in that story..."

She will also challenge the MoD's interpretation of the legislation to apply beyond the boundaries of the Nuclear Licensed Site. During debate on the Terrorism Bill, the Minister who introduced the amendment to SOCPA stated that ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œthere would have to be substantial entry beyond the fenceÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Âand that ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œthe individuals concerned would physically have to go beyond the fenceÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â.

Other anti-nuclear and anti-war protesters have been prosecuted under s.128 at Menwith Hill, the US spy-base; Faslane, from where Trident nuclear submarines are deployed and - still awaiting trial - at Lakenheath, from where US nuclear bombs were recently withdrawn.